Books and music, the two constants in my life. My vinyl collection(along with my expensive turntable) is packed away yet I couldn't bear the thought of parting with it. The CD collection has far outgrown every crate and case I've bought to contain it, and my pile of 'to-be-read' books will literally stack to the ceiling. And now I have a Kindle and a growing collection of ebooks yet to be read.

If I was still in the Navy, I'd almost be looking forward to a long deployment where I could catch up on all this reading and listening. I used to justify purchasing a bunch of new music CDs from Hypnos or Steve Roach by making that part of my 'pre-deployment kit.' It had to last me at least 6 months. Now, with music downloads, Low Light Mixes, Hypnagogue, and a bunch of other music sites, there really is no shortage of new music to keep me occupied, but it seems as though I have less time to fall in love with a new release. I guess I have the collecting problem as well.

Actually, the small indies you may care about and the artists they support do need your help now. It's a very crucial time for small labels, and the last thing they need is for their fans to walk away.

A label owner who also runs a music mail order ends up with a TON of music to listen to... so much that I could never buy another CD and always have more than enough variety of music to listen to for the rest of my life. This is especially true because I was a fanatical music collector before I started Hypnos, so I have a couple thousand pop/rock/jazz/soundtrack CDs in addition to this glut of ambient.

I can understand as well as anyone the idea of simply no longer buying new music, and just listening to what I have.

A good point is raised, though, which is the idea that even if it makes sense for us individually not to buy any more music, as part of a music "scene" we have an interest (not an obligation, at least I wouldn't say so) to support artists or labels who are creating interesting music that we would like to encourage.

A phenomenon I've seen happen many times, not just in the world of music but also in publishing, is that a label or publisher or magazine says "We aren't making enough money to continue because nobody is buying our product." So they do a Kickstarter, and everybody swoops in and donates thousands of dollars, and the label/publisher is able to continue at least temporarily. It seems people are willing to "bail out" someone who is doing good work, if people realize that the label/publisher is going to disappear without that support.

It seems it's human nature to take for granted that the creators we enjoy are doing just fine, and will always be there. We may not buy their CD, their book or their DVD, (or we might buy some of their output, but not most) but we want them to be around, because they are part of a community and a scene that we value.

Although I own a record label, I'm actually NOT bringing this up from that perspective. I'm not feeling sorry for myself about how tough it is to sell CDs in today's market. Actually, Hypnos does OK, and there's zero chance that we'll stop doing this any time soon.

But I do speak to other label owners, as well as artists who self-release their music, and something I hear again and again is "Why should I bother continuing to do this?" In the past few months, I've spoken to a couple of label owners who I had assumed were doing really well -- they were still actively putting out cool music -- but who indicated they aren't sure whether to continue.

I won't name names, but I have no doubt that if either of these label owners put up a Kickstarter and tried to raise money, and made it clear that without a certain-sized chunk of money they would cease operating, many of us would want to donate because we would simply hate the idea of the ambient/experimental music scene without these labels doing what they do. I like to think the same is true with Hypnos -- that if we were actually struggling, and let everyone know it, that people would contribute to keep it going.

I see both sides of this problem. I understand having so much music that it's hard to get motivated to buy more. Same goes for books, with me. I have such an enormous backlog, it's only the collector's mindset that triggers the urge to purchase, not an actual need for new reading materials.

I also think it's important for people to remember we ought to "vote with our wallet" by supporting the stuff we want to continue. I'll clarify again, this is not a plea for more people to buy Hypnos stuff. We're doing just fine, thanks! I really am talking about this more as an ambient music enthusiast, and friend to other labels and indie artists.

I think that's why I buy too much music. I'm a collector, and completist in many instances. Especially the limited editions, because I don't want to get stuck paying $75 for one cd on eBay or discogs because I waited too long!

I often wonder if I have to much music, as well. I often , due to economic reasons, have to curtail my buying for a short period of time. Now happens to be one of these times as I have taken off quite a bit of time from work in the last four months or so. I had back surgery followed by a death in the family and a trip that had been planned in advance that I didn't want to cancel. I do know that soon I will go back to purchasing releases in this genre.I enjoy hearing new works and also I enjoy supporting artists that I know and like their music. I do feel a certain sense of community being on a forum like this as I have for quite sometime. I also get excited when I hear of a new release from a forum member. I can't buy them all, but I do try to be supportive. As we all know this is not a big money field, so often just the encouragement is important to an ambient artist. I'm glad that Hypnos is not going anywhere soon. I hope that everyone is able to get something out of this genre of value. I have talked to artists who are struggling to get their music heard and only wish the best for them and i will continue to be supportive when I can.

Why wife likes to kid me about my music collection. I could listen to a unique CD a day for several years simply on the basis of what I own now. (And I have a feeling my collection pales in comparison to that of other forum members!)

But I don't feel ashamed of it; I never look at the CDs on the shelves and think "God, what a waste." Music (and other forms of art and literature) are important to me. It is something I want to invest in, something I want to collect, and something I want to be able to share with other like-minded individuals. It is important to me to feel that those purchases support the artists and the broader community.

I wish I had more disposable income to invest in buying music. It saddens me to know that some artists and labels have to confront the dreaded financial question "Is it worth it?"

Last night I sold about 150 cd's at Amoeba Music in SF. I got rid of a lot of rock/pop from the 80's, and also a lot of ambient. It's amazing how much ambient electronic stuff I have/had that was just gathering dust on my shelves, that is "ok" but not great or inspiring like the classics. Artists who I had an abundance of titles from I sold off most and kept the 2 or 3 very best. Trying to streamline my collection into only the very best. The only label I will not sell anything of is Fax.

Last night I sold about 150 cd's at Amoeba Music in SF. I got rid of a lot of rock/pop from the 80's, and also a lot of ambient. It's amazing how much ambient electronic stuff I have/had that was just gathering dust on my shelves, that is "ok" but not great or inspiring like the classics. Artists who I had an abundance of titles from I sold off most and kept the 2 or 3 very best. Trying to streamline my collection into only the very best. The only label I will not sell anything of is Fax.

I really should slow down on the music purchases. Storage has been becoming an issue for all my Cds, vinyl and cassettes . I still have all my stuff from my teenage years onwards. Can't bring myself to get rid of all the old rock, metal and more mainstream stuff even.

I once sold my entire vinyl collection when CDs came out Spent the last 15/20 years trying to buy it all back. All for the sake of buying about 5 new CDs at the time. Deeply regretted that massive mistake.

Downloads, especially itunes and bandcamp, have been a great thing for me. Perhaps too convenient. However as stated I really have to slow down on this. I have too much, no doubt about it. However I also feel it is very important to support artists and labels, especially in the ambient and electronic field, and thus it is a difficult task.